The Monopteros is one of Munich's most important landmarks. It is located on a hill in the English Garden, above Schönfeldwiese. Such round temples with columns, also known as rotundas
already existed in ancient times. They served as canopies for monuments and are accessible from all sides.
The Monopteros Munich was a meeting place for hippies and nudists in the 1960s and is still a symbol of Munich's tolerance and cosmopolitanism today. Alongside the Chinese Tower, it is one of the special sights of the English Garden.
Monopteros Munich for the Elector
The English Garden is one of the most important city parks in the world. It is even larger than Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London. In 1789, Elector Carl Theodor originally had this unique green space created as a military garden and public park around the Schönfeld meadow. And it was precisely on this meadow that a temple should be built in honour of Carl Theodor.
King Ludwig I commissioned his court architect Leo von Klenze to design the so-called Monopteros. The garden architect Carl August Sckell finally erected the building on an artificial hill. And in 1837, the temple high above Munich was finally completed.
View over the English Garden
The Monopteros has a total height of around 16 metres. Its roof is supported by ten Ionic columns. At the top, it offers a particularly marvellous view over the English Garden and the rooftops of the city. In winter, people like to use the hill for sledging. And on New Year's Eve, the Monopteros is considered one of the most beautiful places in the city with a breathtaking view of the Munich fireworks.
Schönfeldwiese tourist magnet
The world-famous Schönfeldwiese meadow below the round temple. Because this is where the ‘nudists’ have been meeting for more than 50 years. Although this was a scandal in the 1960s, it was also proof of the tolerance of the Bavarian capital.
Since then, tourists from all over the world have come to marvel at the undressed Munich residents at the Monopteros. Where else can you see something like this in the centre of a big city? And every travel guide explicitly mentions this extraordinary attraction.
In contrast to the past, however, it has actually become difficult to find naked sunbathers there at all. Despite increased body awareness, nudism is generally no longer a trend and now even seems a little old-fashioned. While the Schwabinger Bach was still populated by countless naked Munich residents in the 1970s, there are now more ‘gawkers’ than sunbathers. And those who are mainly to be found were already here in the 1970s.
